State v. Tate

714 So. 2d 252, 1998 WL 265134
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 27, 1998
Docket98-KA-117
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 714 So. 2d 252 (State v. Tate) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Tate, 714 So. 2d 252, 1998 WL 265134 (La. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

714 So.2d 252 (1998)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Ralph TATE.

No. 98-KA-117.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

May 27, 1998.

*253 Frank Sloan, Covington, for Defendant/Appellant.

Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Rebecca J. Becker, Terry Boudreaux, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Before GRISBAUM, GOTHARD and DALEY, JJ.

DALEY, Judge.

Defendant, Ralph Tate, appeals his conviction of obtaining a controlled dangerous substance by fraud and deceit, in violation of LSA-R.S. 40:971. On appeal, he assigns as error the trial court's denial of his Motion to Suppress. We affirm.

On June 21, 1995, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office filed a bill of information charging the defendant, Ralph Tate, with one count of obtaining a controlled dangerous substance by fraud and deceit, in violation of LSA-R.S. 40:971.[1] Defendant was arraigned on July 24, 1995, at which he pled not guilty. On March 18, 1996, pursuant to a preliminary examination, the trial court found probable cause to hold the defendant over for trial. Also on that date, the trial court denied the defendant's motion to suppress evidence and statement.

On July 9, 1997, prior to trial, the defendant re-urged his motion to suppress the statement, and the trial court again denied the defendant's motion. A jury trial was held on July 9, 1997 and July 10, 1997. At the conclusion of the trial, the six member jury unanimously found the defendant guilty as charged. On August 29, 1997, the trial judge sentenced the defendant to serve two years imprisonment at hard labor, with credit for time served. The trial court granted the defendant's motion for appeal on September 2, 1997.

Joseph Henry, the owner of and pharmacist at Bellemeade Discount Pharmacy in Gretna, told the jury that on June 6, 1995, he received a request to refill a prescription of Xanax for Ms. Violet Thiac. Mr. Henry testified that, following his ordinary procedure, he faxed the request over to the listed doctor, Dr. Robert Davis, requesting a refill authorization. The doctor's office called the pharmacy back and told them not to fill the prescription because Ms. Violet Thiac was deceased. Mr. Henry testified that, meanwhile, the man who had called in the refill request was calling continually to see if the prescription was ready. Mr. Henry called the police, who asked Mr. Henry to fill the prescription, and to call the requestor (the defendant, Mr. Tate) and inform him that the prescription was ready. Mr. Henry told the jury that he then called the defendant and told him that the prescription was ready, and paged the police officers. When the defendant came into the store to pick up the prescription, the police were already in the store. Mr. Henry signaled to the police that the defendant was there to pick up the prescription. The defendant picked up the prescription, paid for it, and walked outside the store. Laura Landry, a clerk at Bellemeade pharmacy, corroborated Mr. Henry's story and told the jury that the person who called to request the refills and who continued calling the pharmacy was a male who identified himself as Mr. Tate.

Detective Pham of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office testified that on June 6, 1995, he received a phone call from Mr. Henry about a possible forged prescription. Detective Pham and his partner, Agent Burns, went to the Bellemeade pharmacy to investigate. Their investigation revealed that a person had called in a refill for a prescription intended for a woman who was deceased. They also learned that the person who had called in the prescription left the name of Ralph Tate and a phone number of 431-7333, which was listed for Ms. Althea Thiac of 108 Four O'Clock Lane in Waggaman. Detective Pham's investigation revealed that Denise Thiac and Robert Tate also resided at the Four O'Clock Lane address. Detective Pham and his partner asked Mr. Henry to page them if anyone came to pick up the prescription.

*254 Detective Pham testified that at approximately 3:45 p.m. on June 6, 1995, he and his partner were paged by Mr. Henry. They went inside the store and saw a gentleman, the defendant, purchasing a prescription. As the man turned and walked out of the store, Mr. Henry pointed at the man, and the police followed him outside of the store. At that point the police advised the defendant and Denise Thiac, who was in the car outside the pharmacy, that they were employed by the Sheriff's Office and that both parties would be detained for a short period of time for an investigation. The police then asked the defendant who the prescription belonged to. The defendant replied that the prescription was for Violet Thiac. Agent Burns asked the defendant if he could see the bag. The defendant handed the bag over voluntarily and told the police that the bag contained a filled prescription. The police officers then arrested the defendant and Ms. Thiac and read them their Miranda rights.

Denise Thiac told the jury that on June 6, 1995, she and the defendant were at her mother's house cleaning out her mother's belongings. While cleaning, Denise found an empty prescription bottle that had been issued to her mother. She told the jury that the defendant called in for a refill on the prescription. She told the jury that the defendant knew her mother was deceased at the time he called in the prescription. She also told the jury that it was the defendant's idea to call in the prescription. He did not ask for her permission. She went with the defendant to pick up the prescription. She was sitting in her car when the defendant picked up the prescription, and she told the jury that when the defendant walked out of the store, the police arrested both of them. She further told the jury that she was originally a co-defendant in this case, but that her charges were dismissed for working with the police identifying drug dealers.

Daniel Waguespack of the Jefferson Parish Crime Lab identified the contents of the prescription bottle as Alprazolam, a controlled dangerous substance, commonly known as Xanax. Dr. Robert Davis told the jury that Violet Thiac had been his patient, but that she died in March of 1995. He testified that when he received the request for a refill on Ms. Thiac's prescription, he instructed his staff to inform the pharmacist that Ms. Thiac was deceased, and to call the narcotics division. He identified the drug in the prescription bottle as Xanax, and told the jury that Xanax is a drug frequently abused on the street.

The defendant testified on his own behalf. He told the jury that on June 6, 1995 he was at Denise Thiac's mother's house with her. He testified that he was having a conversation with Denise about how Denise's nerves were "bad." He told the jury that as Denise was going through her mother's things, she found a prescription bottle and asked him to call in for the refill. He called the pharmacy, gave a phone number and his name and asked for a refill. He testified that when he went to pick up the prescription, he walked into the store with Denise, but Denise soon walked out to the car. He testified that he got the prescription and walked out of the store, and that as soon as he walked out of the store, the two detectives arrested him. He told the jury that he didn't have any intention of filling the prescription. He claimed that he did it out of concern for Denise and her nerves. He also told the jury that he did not call the pharmacy several times.

Based on the foregoing, the jury found the defendant guilty as charged.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

The trial court erred in denying the defendant's motion to suppress.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
714 So. 2d 252, 1998 WL 265134, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-tate-lactapp-1998.